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King Vultan
King Vultan rules the Hawk Men on Mongo. Comic strip The Hawkmen are introduced in the Flash Gordon (comic strip) second storyline, "The Monsters of Mongo", making their first appearance in the July 8, 1934 strip. The Sky City is used as a "prison city" by Ming the Merciless, who sends Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Prince Barin there when he's forced by sacred law to spare Flash's life. Initially, Vultan is a willing servant of Ming and Princess Aura, who boss him around fiercely, but he soon takes a shine to Dale and begins to resent Ming's influence. ("The Monsters of Mongo") He orders Flash and his friends to work as slaves in the Atom Furnace, which process the radium that the city needs to stay aloft in the sky. Vultan has a number of wives, who he keeps in his private Skyrooms at the top of a tower. He plans to add Dale to his harem, but a jealous Lura, Vultan's favorite wife, pushes Dale out of a window. (Dale is saved by Flash, and then recaptured by the Hawkmen.) Flash leads a slave revolt, and sets off an explosion in the Atom Furnace. This threatens to topple the city out of the sky, but Dr. Hans Zarkov invents a new atomic Light solidifier, which makes the city even more stable than before. Vultan is grateful, setting his captives free and giving Zarkov a job as his head scientist. In the third story, "The Tournaments of Mongo", Vultan protects Flash and Dale when Ming travels to the Sky City to collect them. Vultan calls for a "Tournament of Death" so that Flash can have a chance to fight for his freedom. When Flash becomes the King of the cave world in "The Caverns of Mongo", Vultan sends a delegation of Hawkmen to accompany Flash. Serial The Hawkmen of the 1936 "Flash Gordon (serial)" follow the original strip's continuity very closely. King Vultan and the Hawkmen first appear in "Chapter 105: The Destroying Ray", and Vultan immediately sets to menacing Dale and enslaving the rest in the atom furnaces. Flash is tortured by Vultan in "Chapter 106: Flaming Torture", and sets off the explosion in the atom furnaces in "Chapter 107: Shattering Doom". Zarkov saves the Sky City in "Chapter 108: Tournament of Death", and Vultan befriends the heroes. When Ming arrives, Vultan calls for a "Tournament of Death", although in the serial this tournament is on a much diminished scale, Flash must fight an Orangopoid, instead of the thousands of warriors in the comic strip's Tournament. Vultan remains a loyal friend to Flash for the remainder of the serial, even going to prison on Flash's behalf in "Chapter 110: The Unseen Peril". Flash Gordon (1979) 1980 Flash Gordon Movie Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All Defenders of the Earth Flash Gordon (1996 cartoon) Sci Fi Channel Series For the updated "Flash Gordon (Sci Fi Channel)", series creator and executive producer Peter Hume says that adapting the Hawkmen for a modern audience was a challenge: In the new series, the Hawkmen will be known as Dactyls. Sci Fi Channel Appearances *"Episode 105: Ascension" *"Episode 112: Secrets and Lies" *"Episode 120: Revolution - Part 1" Vultan through the years *John Lipson: "Flash Gordon" (1936) *Allan Melvin: "Flash Gordon" (1979) *Brian Blessed: "Flash Gordon" (1980) *Ted Cassidy: "Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All" (1982) *Ty Olsson: "Flash Gordon" (2007) External Links *Flash Honors Old, New *[http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=2300 Eric Johnson Saves Every One of Us in Flash Gordon] Gallery Comic Gallery Serial Gallery Sci Fi Category:Sci Fi Channel Characters Category:Comic Strip Characters Category:Serials Characters Category:Movie Characters Category:Animated Characters Category:Radio Characters